Folding chair



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. M. BENNETT.

FOLDING CHAIR.

No. 531,583. Patented Dec. 25,1894.

v No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 2.

G. M. BENNETT.

FOLDING CHAIR.

Patented Dec. 25, 1894.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

' .G. M. BENNETT.

FOLDING CHAIR.

No. 531,583 Patented Deo. 25,1894.

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" U IT ST TEsq-PATENT OFFICE.

GEoRGE MERRIT B NNETT, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MIcHIGAN, AssIG oR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE GRAND RAPIDS sEATING COMPANY, OF sAME PLAcE. I

' FOLDING CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,583, dated December 25, 1894. Application filed August 12,1893. Serial No. 482,994. (No model.)

i To all whom it may concern: v i

Be it known that I, GEORGE MERRIT BEN NETT, of Grand Rapids, county of Kent, and State of Michigan, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Folding Chairs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention hasrefe'rence to chairs with folding seats, such as are now universally used in theatersand public halls, and refers more particularly to the joint by which the seat proper isconneeted to the standards.

In seats of this charactertrouble has been caused on account of the parts of the joint becoming loose fromwear which caused .the seat to rattle as it was raised or lowered, and to operate imperfectly and unsatisfactorily.

The aim of the present invention is to overcome this objection, and it consists in mounting'the seat bracket between bearings of such construction that the parts of the bearing will be caused to automatically embrace the bracket with a clamping action as the seat is raised or lowered.- I

The invention also consists in so connecting the seat brackets with the seat backs and :in so sustaining the latter, that as theseat proper is raised or lowered, the seat back will be caused to assume a greater or less degree of inclination as the case may be.

The invention also consists in the details of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, is a perspective view of .two connected chairs having my invention embodied therein, the said chairs being provided with rigid backs. Fig. 2, is afront elevation of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3, is avertical sectional elevation on the line A-A of the preceding figure. Fig. 4, isa horizontal sectiononthe line BB of Fig. 3 looking upward from below. Fig. 5, is a front elevation of two connecting chairs havingmy invention embodied therein, the said chairs being provided with tilting backs. Fig. 6, is a vertical sectional elevation on the line 0-0 of Fig. 5.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, 1 represents the seat standards between which seat backs 2 and seats proper 3 are sustained as usual.

4 represents seat brackets towhich the seats proper are secured at opposite ends in any ap 'propriate manner. These brackets are pivlar head or ball bearing enlargement 7 on the seat bracket is mounted to turn-therein. The .fixed member of the joint is in the form of a erally extending ears 9, adapted to extend through openings in the seat standard and to be seated on laterally extending lugs 10, the brackets being adj ustably secured to the lugs by means of bolts 11, extending through :vertioal slots in the ears and into the lugs.

-When the chairs are set in rows as illustrated, it will be seen that one standard answers-for two seats, so that in connectingv the brackets as described, the ears of the ad- ;jacent brackets will overlap, those on one: bracket being seated upon the ears'on the fother bracket as plainly shown in Fig. 2. l The connection .of the brackets with the standards in the manner set forth,is deemed of importance, in that whenthe standards are set at an angle as on a curve, the brackets may beset parallel to receive the seat proper. The connection isalso of importance for the reason that it will not be necessary to accurately set each standard, as the distance may accurately set to receive the seats.

to the seat brackets, and the hanging bracket 8 will also be attached to the seat brackets. So, when the standards are in place it will only be necessary to connect the lugs 9 to the standards.

The movable member of the joint is in the form of a plate, which extends in an approxiso as to be capable of a limited yielding lateral movement y means of a bolt 12, and a spring washer 13 oted to the standards by means of the pecu-' vertical bracket and is provided with two lat-- In shipping the seat proper may be attached mately horizontal position a slightdistancefrom the bracket, it being sustained thereby be approximated, and the brackets thereafter ated around'the bolt, betoo neath its head and arranged to bear on the plate. against the seat bracket, and acts as a nut lock to prevent the bolt from unscrewing, and also admits of the yielding of the plate laterally when pressure is applied, as more fully described hereinafter.

The rear end of the movable plate is seated in an open notch formed in the laterally bent end 14 of the fixed member or bracket 8, the arrangement being such that the end of the plate will be guided within the notch as it is moved on the bolt.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that by moving the rear end of the plate away from the bracket, its opposite end containing the socket will be caused to approach the fixed member of the bearing, and will act to clamp the globular enlargement or ball bearing on the seat bracket tightly within the socket. In order that this clamping action may be effected automatically when the seat is raised to a folded position, and also when it is lowered to a horizontal or extended position for use, to the end that when theseat stop 16, in position to encounter the laterally. bent end 14 of the bracket, when the seat is in an extended position, and. serves to limit the extension of the seat.

as the seat is'extended,the shoulder will engage the inner face of the yielding plate and' on the continued movementof the seat,wil1 act to move the end of the plate 6 awayfrom the bracket 8 with a wedging action, 'andl cause its front end to act with a clamping effect on the globular enlargement on'theseat bracket. Where it joins the seat bracket, the

arm is provided with an inclined shoulder 18, which when the seat is raised will engagethe inner face of the plate, and act also-on the bearing in a manner similarto the shoulder on the free end of the arm.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have represented 'my improved joint applied to a chair having a tilting back. In this construction the'form and operation of the joint are thesame as above described, but the brackets 8 (which take the place of the brackets 8 shownin Figs. 1, 2 and 3) are of different form, and instead of being supported as above described, they extend upward approximately to the tops of the seat standards where they are connected insuch manner as to becapable of swinging backward and forward at their lower ends. They are rigidly connected to the seat backs 2, and sustain thelatter.

At its upper end, each swinging member 8 is provided with a depending finger 19,having on its end a ball or globular enlargement This Washer tends to hold the plate The arm is also formed at its free end on its side with an in clined shoulder 17, which isof such'form that 20, which is seated loosely in a correspondingly shaped socket formed in abracket or hanger 21 adjustably connected by means of abolt 22 to the seat standard in a manner similar to the connection of the bracket 8 in the case first described.

The seat bracket is provided with a clownwardly projecting arm 40 which extends beyond the globular enlargement thereon, and is bent laterally in the form of a spindle 23, which is mounted in an elongated socket 241, formed in the seat standard as shown. This arm forms a lever which, when the seat is turned, causes the swinging member 8 to swing backward or forward (according to the direction in which the seat is turned) changing the positions of the connected parts as indicated in full and broken lines in Fig. 6. From this it will be understood that as the seat is raised or lowered, the lower ends of the swinging members 8 of the bearing be tween which the seat back is mounted together with the clamping plates and seat joints will be moved back and forth, the seat brackets turning on the spindles 23, as centers, whichaction will cause the seat back to assume a greater orless degreeof inclination according to the movementof the seat proper.

In applying my invention to a school desk where there is no necessity for providing for the adjustment of the bearings between which the seat proper is mounted, the fixed member of the bearing will be formed integral with the standard, instead of being made a separate part as in the cases above described. The

clamping action of the joint, however, will bethe same.

On account of the construction of the seat hinge, as the occupant rises from theseat, his limbs will encounter the front edge of the seat and will cause it to foldback automatically.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a folding'chair the combination'of the :seat bracket provided with an enlargement,

a bearing for said enlargement, said bearing comprising a fixed and a relatively movable member adapted to clamp the enlargement between them, and means controlled by the bracket for moving the movable member of the bearing toward the fixed member when the seat is turned.

2. In a folding chair the combination with i the seat standard and with theseat bracket provided with an armhaving an enlargement thereon, of the bearing within which said ena laterally yielding plate coupled with the fixed member, and also provided with a socket, the enlargement on the bracket being seated between said members, in the sockets thereof, and the shoulders on the arm arranged to engage and move the plate laterally as the seat is raised or lowered.

4. In a folding seat the combination with the seat bracket'formed with an enlargement, the seat standard provided with a fixed or rigid bearing for said enlargement, a clamping plate coupled at one side of the axis of movement of the seat bracket, and arranged to clamp the enlargement in its bearing, and a cam arm on the seat bracket to engage and rockthe clamping plate on its coupling to move the clamping end toward the fixed bearing when the seat is turned.

5. The combination with the fixed seat standards, of the brackets 8 jointed at their upper ends to the standards, the seat back connected rigidly to said brackets, the bearings sustained at the lower ends of said brackets and comprising each two members, and the seat brackets 4 pivoted between the members of said bearings and extended downward beyond the same, and having their ends mounted in elongated slots in the standards; whereby when the seat is folded upward it will swing the lower ends of the brackets 8 rearward and the ends of the seat brackets rising in the elongated slots will admit of a corresponding downward movement of the seat.

6. The combination of the standards, the seat back, the brackets sustaining the back and mounted to tip back and forth with respect to the standards and provided at their lower ends with sockets, the relatively movable plates sustained by the brackets and provided with sockets, the seat brackets pivoted between the standards and provided with enlargements seated in the sockets, and the arms carried by the seat brackets and arranged to engage and move the movable plates as the seat is raised or lowered.

7. In a folding seat the combinationof the joint comprising a fixed and a relatively movable member each provided with a complementary socket bearing, the seat bracket provided with an enlargement seated in said bearings and a curved arm carried by the bracket and arranged to engage and move the movable member of the bearing, said arm having a stop lug adapted to engage the seatsupport and limit the forward movement of the seat.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand, this 22d day of. May, 1893, in the presence of two attesting witnesses.

GEORGE MERRIT BENNETT.

Witnesses:

CHAS. A. RENWIOK, ERNST E. KASPER. 

